Jefferson Reporter

U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today commended the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the companion legislation to the Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024. The bipartisan bill, introduced earlier this week in the Senate by Senators Britt, Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), aims to add the Secretary of Agriculture as a permanent member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The inclusion of the Secretary is intended to enhance scrutiny over foreign acquisitions of U.S. farmland and agricultural industries. The legislation specifically targets farmland purchases by foreign adversaries such as China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran for CFIUS review. According to USDA data, over 43.4 million acres of U.S. agricultural land are foreign-owned.

"Food security is national security and that requires America’s farmland be protected from foreign adversaries, like China," said Senator Britt. "I believe one acre of American farmland owned by the Chinese Communist Party is one acre too many." She added that "the Secretary of Agriculture must have a seat at the table" to prevent malign actors from controlling American farmland.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introduced the legislation in the House, where it passed with a vote count of 269-149.

Other Senate cosponsors include Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Roger Marshall (R-Kans.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.).

Since taking office, Senator Britt has supported several legislative measures aimed at holding foreign adversaries accountable while advocating for American interests. These include co-sponsoring the Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act introduced by Senator Tommy Tuberville and introducing the Not One More Inch or Acre Act with Senator Tom Cotton to prevent Chinese nationals or entities from owning American land.

More recently, an amendment sponsored by Senator Britt was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, providing funding for a streamlined process to track and disclose all foreign investment in American farmland through the USDA.

Senator Britt also emphasized her support for passing the Protect Our Bases Act this summer—a bill she introduced with Senator Tim Scott—to safeguard America's military, intelligence, and national laboratory sites.